Dear Tom,
You recently told us that we gain 70 minutes of daylight during the month of February. How does that compare to our annual loss/gain of sunlight?
Chuck Liethen Cary, Ill.
Dear Chuck,
The days are definitely getting longer now. During the course of this month the sun eventually rises 36 minutes earlier and sets 34 minutes later for the 70 minute increase. February’s gain in daylight equates to about 19 percent of our annual change from the 9 hour and 8 minutes of daylight around the December 21 winter solstice to the 15 hours and 14 minutes of daylight on our longest days around the June 21 summer solstice. Over a year Chicago’s sunrise time varies a little more than two hours from 5:15 a.m. to 7:18 a.m. while sunset changes a little more than 4 hours from 4:20 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., the inequality a result of daylight saving time during the summer.
———-
Tom Skilling is chief meteorologist at WGN-TV. His forecasts can be seen Monday through Friday on WGN-TV News at noon and 9 p.m.
Write to: ASK TOM WHY, 2501 Bradley Pl., Chicago, IL 60618 or asktomwhy@wgntv.com (Mail volume precludes personal response.)
WGN-TV meteorologists Steve Kahn, Richard Koeneman and Paul Dailey plus weather producer Bill Snyder contribute to this page.
